Only one man, a 26-year-old Algerian asylum seeker, has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.

Wolfgang Albers, Mr Mathies' predecessor, was fired over the way he handled the exceedingly large number of assaults and robberies.

Cologne: Sex Attacks and Robberies

Tue, January 12, 2016

Thirty-one suspects, including 18 asylum seekers, are under investigation over offences including sexual assault and theft in Cologne on New Year's Eve. Far right protestors in Lepzig have rallied against refugees and German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Protestors in Lepzig rally after over 100 women were sexually assualted on New Year's Eve

The incident was a turning point in Germany's relationship with Chancellor Angela Merkel as she came under serious criticism for the country's immigration policy which allowed 1.1 million asylum seekers into Germany in 2015.

Last week Cologne's top prosecutor, Ulrich Bremer, was forced to angrily deny media reports only three of the New Year's Eve attackers were refugees.

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Angela Merkel's popularity has taken a nosedive since the New Year's attacks

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Most of the migrants arriving by boat to Italy before heading across Europe are North Africans

Many had used an interview with Mr Bremer in respected German newspaper Die Welt to make the revelation but it later turned out certain news outlets and campaigners were working on the basis only people from Iraq and Syria counted.